Feature 2 | MIDDLE EAST
Tanker activity keeps leading Middle East yards busy
Te two biggest existing repair yards in the Middle East, Drydocks World Dubai and ASRY, are benefitting from strong business links with both global and regional tanker owners and operators.
the downturn. Te shipyard repaired 135 vessels, including 16 VLCCs, and a majority of this workload involved oil, product and chemical tankers. In addition to existing alliance agreement
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contracts that the yard has with leading tanker operators such as BP, OSG, Euronav, NYK and MOL, a further new agreement came into effect with Shell International Trading and Shipping during the first half of the year. As a result, several Shell vessels, including large gas carriers and oil tankers, were repaired during this period. Although the number of ships docked at
the yard between January and June does not compare favorably with 2009 at the same half-year point, Drydocks World Dubai says it expects to close the gap, as business has steadily picked up during the course of 2010. Te second half of the year should continue the recovery, with the result that the overall volume of work will probably be similar to 2009. Notable tanker projects undertaken
by Drydocks World Dubai this year have included the renewal of around 33tonnes of steel on the VLCC Zouzou N and the hydro blasting of hull areas of 25,000m2 30,000m2
and respectively on the VLCCs Hawk
and Meandros, followed by the application of a silicone coating to these hulls. On the tanker Mire around 135tonnes of steel was renewed at the bottom of the vessel, a project that was completed within just 21days, while engine room and side shell repairs were carried out on another tanker, Lania. Te amount of steel renewed in this case was around 120tonnes. Major steel repairs and tank coating work was undertaken for Marine Management Services’ oil tanker United Star and extensive steel renewal and tank coating on the NITC-owned tanker Abadan took place in July.
24 ASRY continues to attract large tanker repair projects. Furthermore, afloat repairs were carried
out on the Shell LNG vessels Umm Slal and Al Mafyar. Indeed, the yard at one point hosted six LNG carriers simultaneously, which is unprecedented. As well as repair projects, Drydocks
World Dubai is working on two demanding tanker-to-FPSO conversion projects. Te conversion of the LNG vessel Golar Frost to the recently renamed FSRU Toscana (previously FSRU Livorno) began in June 2009 and is well underway, as is the conversion of the tanker Betatank II into FPSO Aquila for Saipem Energy Services. Both projects are due for completion in 2011. A wide range of enhancements and
installations are needed on the 247m long Betatank II. Drydocks World Dubai will install an external turret, build new steel structures such as module supports and pipe racks, install production and power generation modules using the yard’s 2000tonnes capacity floating crane, refurbish the accommodation block and
install new crude oil lines on deck. Tis project also requires modification of the tanker’s boilers and cargo systems and upgrades to the power and communication systems. The FSO Africa was delivered by
Drydocks World Dubai this year, following a lengthy ULCC conversion. Joint owners Euronav and Overseas Shipholding Group requested additional works, which led to an extension of the contract period. Te large amount of work on FSO Africa included grit-blasting and painting of the cargo tanks to cover an area of around 275,000m2
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Furthermore, some 15,000m of new cargo pipelines were laid in the tanks and on deck, while the conversion also involved fitting 1,200 valves to the cargo pipes, and adding 31,000m of pipes and 800 new valves in the engine room and accommodation areas. In addition, new structures were
fabricated at the yard’s steel shop. A three level accommodation structure was built and fixed onboard; a new pipe rack was fabricated using 700tonnes of steel
Shiprepair and Conversion Technology 4th Quarter 2010
n the first half of the year Drydocks World – Dubai continued to do a significant amount of business despite
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